SJC rejects suppression order

The Supreme Judicial Court has overturned a trial judge’s order calling for the suppression of a firearm and ammunition found in a vehicle during an inventory search.

The fruits of the search are admissible, the court found, because they were obtained as the result of a lawful motor vehicle impoundment.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland said that “the action of police in signaling for the automobile to pull over dictated the location of the stop (along the curb of a public street) and the owner of the automobile, [Jessica] Rodriguez, was not present at the scene to express a preference on the vehicle’s disposition. In accordance with our past precedent, the police were not constitutionally obligated to contact her.”

Ireland added: “Although we need not examine the reason of the police officers for not attempting to contact Rodriguez, the reason for not doing so — the early morning hour — provided a sound basis for their decision.“